East Germany And Cars

The story of the Trabant

The world stood by, after the war, as the allies took sovereignty of Germany, with hopes of building a free, capitalistic nation from the ruins of the Third Reich. It was that moment in history, that forty-five years later, would end in the end of the cold war, and the spectacular collapse of Communism, and the demise of the USSR and the German Democratic Republic. That moment marked the demise of East German Car manufacturer Sachsenring.

GERMANY 1947,

The defeated nation was put under the control of the Allied Control Council, who had hopes to to make Germany a free, capitalist nation, a far cry from the ideals and hopes of the National Socialist government of a few years prior. By 1948, the plan was destroyed as the tensions between America, France and Britain hit an all time high, leading to multiple states having multiple governments.

A little over 12 months later, in October 1949, the Soviet Union established the German Democratic Republic, which meant that a little over half of Germany, was a satellite state of the Soviet Union. This state, now being run independently off the allies, fell into Totalitarian Socialism, much to the dismay of the Allies.

Movement, speech and immigration were heavily restricted and it was at this point, that many believe the Cold War started.

As the Allies rebuilt their sectors of Germany, the Soviet Union transformed East Germany into a Communist Powerhouse, isolated from the rest of the world.

LET’S TALK TRABANT

After the completion of the Berlin Wall, the East German economy, slowly grew. State owned company, VEB Sachsenring created their version of the “People’s Car”, the Trabant. Despite being a bad car, the Trabant had many advanced features we take for granted today. It had independent suspension, front wheel drive and a fiberglass body.

The production of the Trabant was largely faced with budget constraints, forcing the model to be relatively unchanged for over 30 years, from the 1950’s all the way to 1991. Many features we take for granted, only reached the Trabant in the late 1980’s, a car that cost more than a years wages. The Trabant 601, the flagship Trabant, has somewhat evolved to become an icon.

LONGEVITY

The Trabant’s designers only envisaged a 10 year production run of the Trabant, with a planned replacement year of 1967. However the East German government repeatedly turned down plans of replacement Trabants, citing material shortages for the state run company.

Despite over 27 horsepower, and 15 factory colours, life in the German Democratic Republic was bleak. The material intensive cold war made it difficult for VEB Sachsenring to build Trabants. Those who could afford the Trabant’s asking price and sacrifice a years salary, nearly $25,000 today had to wait over 10 years to take delivery of their Trabants. They could only pay in advance.

In no time, a large black market of used, and instantly available Trabants sprung up, with models going over 3 to 4 times the factory price.

The demand of compact family cars grew, and Trabant owners took huge pride in their cars. Often cramming as many family members and friends into their car for their first drives, and god forbid some small accident happened to the Trabant. That would mean a long waiting time for spare parts.

Thanks to the small two stroke engine, the Trabant got over 16 kilometers a litre, meaning that you didn’t have to use the dipstick to measure your fuel consumption too often.

The simplicity of the Trabant is considered a joke by many today, because of the lack of certain features, but the East German Propaganda office took no time to spin it in a positive light, saying that, “It was so simple that any average laborer could fix their Trabant on the side of the road with something as simple as a spanner.”- if only the average laborer could afford one. The Trabant’s engine was merely 5 moving parts.

THE END

By the late 1980’s, under Glasnost and Perestroika, East Germany started removing some fortifications, and many fled. Many people abandoned their Trabants on the streets. The Prague government had enacted policies to clear up nearly 2000 abandoned Trabants, which were later handed over to the state, as one forfeits their right to own a Trabant once they leave the Bloc.

In 1989, the Eastern Bloc Collapsed, and VEB Sachsenring continued to dump money on the Trabant. In its last two years, Volkswagen took over the Zwickau plant, and granted VEB Sachsenring to use the 1.1 Polo engine on the Trabant. Later models were based on the Volkswagen Golf.

Sachsenring’s demise was inevitable, as the fall of the wall meant that the German populace could get better cars, at the price of an outdated Trabant.

Today many people have tried to modernize the Trabant, with this electric Trabant being one of the newest renders.